Chapter 97
Chapter 97
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 97
Chapter Title: Lost
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"..."
Xiao Hei froze.
*Did he completely ignore my telepathic message?*
Chen Jianghe paid Xiao Hei no mind, diving from the river's surface to the bottom. He focused his spiritual power into his eyes and stared intently at the surface.
He hadn't run.
The man with the handlebar mustache could surely sense that his aura had settled here, and would definitely know that his spiritual power was severely depleted.
But Chen Jianghe didn't believe the man's display of dwindling spiritual power, which was why he had dived to the riverbed.
If the man gave chase, he would be able to tell whether his lack of spiritual power was an act or the real thing.
From the previous attacks, he was certain the man cultivated a fire-elemental art. While he could still fight in the water, he wouldn't be able to use his full strength.
"Not running anymore?"
With a flash of light, the medium-grade flying sword landed in his hand. The man with the handlebar mustache hovered in the air, his enraged and humiliated expression turning cautious.
He didn't immediately attack Chen Jianghe at the bottom of the river.
Nor did he land on the water's surface. Instead, he pondered why Chen Jianghe had stopped.
He had chased him for a hundred and seventy miles, and his spiritual power was nearly exhausted, yet his opponent had stopped.
And was even showing signs of severe spiritual power depletion.
He had no choice but to be cautious.
"Are you out of high-grade escape talismans? What a coincidence. Just as I run out of Spirit Replenishing Pills, with two-thirds of my spiritual power left, you use up all your high-grade escape talismans?"
The man's spiritual power flowed from his fingertips, controlling the flying sword as he stared intently at the riverbed, where that disgusting aura emanated from.
"A Godspeed Talisman, a Spirit-Chasing Talisman, three Spirit Replenishing Pills... that's sixty-three spirit stones already. I can't just let it go."
"He's only at the seventh layer of Qi Refining, and his spiritual power is more than half gone. If one full-powered strike doesn't severely injure him, I'll flee!"
The man with the handlebar mustache made up his mind.
Sixty-three spirit stones was a lot, but his life was more important.
As long as he was alive, he could always make back those sixty-three spirit stones from other fat sheep.
*Swoosh—*
The flying sword erupted in fiery light, transforming into a long rainbow as it shot toward Chen Jianghe at the bottom of the river. The moment it touched the surface, a ten-foot area of water began to boil.
"Xiao Hei!"
Sensing the approaching sword, Chen Jianghe immediately released Xiao Hei and threw him in the direction of the attack.
Then, gathering spiritual power in his feet, he burst out of the water in an instant, simultaneously activating four high-grade spiritual talismans in his hand!
A sudden gust of frigid wind froze the very air. With the mustached man at its center, the chilling aura spread out for a hundred feet.
*RUMBLE!!*
Three bolts of azure lightning, each as thick as a thumb, struck down.
"A late-stage tier-one spirit pet, three Lightning-Drawing Talismans, and one Frost Talisman."
"Was all that really necessary?"
The mustached man stared in horror at the three bolts of azure lightning descending upon him. He was completely numb. He wanted to escape, but he was trapped in the icy pool created by the Frost Talisman.
Without his flying sword, he had no way to instantly break free from the icy pool.
*BOOM!*
Three bolts of lightning, each comparable to a Lightning-Drawing Art cast by a great cultivator at the ninth layer of Qi Refining, struck the man directly.
In an instant, a hundred-foot radius flickered with electric light.
Then, the icy pool exploded.
A familiar, charred smell filled the air.
"That weak?"
Chen Jianghe looked at the mustached man, now a piece of charcoal with no human form left. He cast a Water Arrow Art and hit the body a few more times.
Several transparent holes instantly appeared on the charred corpse.
Only then did he cautiously approach. With a sweep of his divine sense, he pulled the storage pouch from the man's body into his hand.
"Xiao Hei, run, along the riverbed."
Although he had killed the man, he didn't dare to be careless. He called for Xiao Hei to dive to the bottom, then sat on his shell as Xiao Hei swiftly followed the Youxian River to get away.
With the medium-grade flying sword in his mouth, Xiao Hei gathered spiritual power in his short claws and paddled forward with all his might, moving even faster than Chen Jianghe using the Water Escape Art.
An hour later.
Inside a small, twenty-foot-wide water cave in a tributary of the Youxian River, three hundred miles away.
Chen Jianghe leaned against a rock and let out a heavy sigh. This was his first real fight against another person.
He was tense and afraid.
Even after killing the mustached bandit cultivator, he couldn't feel a sliver of excitement, only lingering nervousness.
He worried that more bandit cultivators were chasing them.
That's why he had Xiao Hei turn into a tributary instead of continuing along the main Youxian River.
"Ptooey—"
*Clang!*
Xiao Hei spat out the medium-grade flying sword, panting heavily, his beady eyes filled with fear of the danger they had faced.
The man and the turtle stared at each other, both panting, neither saying a word.
A moment later.
Xiao Hei suddenly looked up, the fear in his eyes dissipating, replaced by confusion.
"Master, why were we running?"
"Here, take a look."
Xiao Hei swam in front of Chen Jianghe, stood upright, and turned around.
"His attacks couldn't even break my defense. Why were we running?" Xiao Hei finally realized.
"They're a group of bandit cultivators. He had accomplices."
"Huh? Good thing we ran fast then." Xiao Hei nodded quickly.
At this moment, Chen Jianghe recalled the counterattack. It seemed the mustached man's spiritual power really had been low.
It wasn't an act.
Pushing his flying sword to attack with full force had consumed a great deal of spiritual power, which was why when Chen Jianghe attacked with the talismans...
...he was able to kill him so easily.
If the man had still possessed seventy percent of his spiritual power, he probably wouldn't have died instantly from the four talismans.
"He probably didn't expect me to have a late-stage tier-one spirit pet. Otherwise, with the flying sword in hand, those four talismans really wouldn't have been enough to kill him."
Xiao Hei blocking the medium-grade flying sword was the key to victory.
Of course, there was another crucial point.
This bandit cultivator was too poor.
So poor he couldn't even afford a medium-grade defensive artifact. Otherwise, he might have been able to escape.
If the four talismans hadn't killed him, Chen Jianghe definitely wouldn't have pursued.
Calming his tense heart, he took the flying sword Xiao Hei had spat out and examined it.
He nodded in satisfaction.
"It's been well-maintained. Should still be worth about thirty spirit stones."
Then, Chen Jianghe took out the mustached man's storage pouch. He sent his divine sense inside, and his expression quickly soured.
Inside were only some clothes and miscellaneous items.
Not a single spiritual talisman, not a single spirit pill.
"I've taken a huge loss."
Four high-grade offensive talismans, two high-grade protective talismans, seven high-grade Five Elements escape talismans, and five Spirit Replenishing Pills.
One hundred and ninety-nine spirit stones.
And all that bandit cultivator had was one medium-grade flying sword, worth thirty spirit stones at most.
A loss of one hundred and seventy spirit stones.
Uh, wait.
"This storage pouch, although it's also one cubic meter, is worth a hundred spirit stones. So, I only lost seventy spirit stones."
At this thought, a smile appeared on Chen Jianghe's face.
"Master, did we strike it rich?"
Xiao Hei poked his head over, grinning widely with his beady eyes narrowed.
"Rich? We lost big time! Only this storage pouch is worth... Oh no!"
"Xiao Hei, run!"
Chen Jianghe immediately jumped onto the turtle shell, threw away the storage pouch in his hand, and urged Xiao Hei to leave quickly.
Seeing the sudden change in Chen Jianghe's expression, Xiao Hei lost all desire to joke around and immediately began swimming through the river with all his might.
"Don't enter the main river channel. Turn whenever you see a tributary. As long as the general direction is west... never mind, just go in any direction."
Chen Jianghe transmitted his thoughts urgently.
Xiao Hei didn't ask any questions.
At a time like this, he was extremely obedient, not questioning Chen Jianghe's words in the slightest.
Chen Jianghe took out two spirit stones and sat cross-legged on Xiao Hei's shell, absorbing the spiritual energy from the stones to recover his spiritual power.
Xiao Hei thoughtfully formed a protective barrier of spiritual power, enveloping Chen Jianghe so he wouldn't be affected by the current as they swam quickly.
Half an hour later.
The small water cave where Chen Jianghe and Xiao Hei had stopped suddenly exploded. A hundred-foot blade of light sliced through the swift tributary, revealing the underwater cave.
*Swoosh—*
The storage pouch that Chen Jianghe had thrown away flew up and landed in the hands of a bearded bandit cultivator leader.
"Cautious enough."
"Big Brother, what should we do?"
"Forget it. He threw away the storage pouch. We've lost his trail."
"But Sixth Brother..."
"He's dead, and that's that. In our line of work, you have to be prepared to die at any moment."
Just then, a petite female bandit cultivator spoke up, "Sixth Brother couldn't even handle a seventh-layer Qi Refining cultivator. He deserved to die."
"Big Brother, where did you get your information? There really were fat sheep on the big boat this time."
"Yeah, the seventh-layer old man that Eighth Sister killed had over thirteen hundred spirit stones in his storage pouch, and even a demonic cultivation art."
"The ninth-layer cultivator's storage pouch only had about seven hundred spirit stones, a high-grade flying sword, and a medium-grade defensive artifact. All told, it's less than a thousand spirit stones."
"Big Brother, can you give your little sister the body tempering art and a high-grade defensive artifact this time?"
The female bandit cultivator looked at the bearded leader with longing eyes. "That demonic cultivation art would sell for at least fifteen hundred spirit stones on the black market. Add the thirteen hundred spirit stones from the pouch, and your little sister has contributed nearly three thousand spirit stones to the stronghold this time."
The bearded leader glanced at the female cultivator, a playful glint in his eyes, but he still smiled and said.
"Don't worry, Eighth Sister. When we get back, I'll request a reward for you from the Stronghold Master. I'm sure you'll get the body tempering art. As for the high-grade defensive artifact? I'll do my best to fight for it for you."
"Let's go. Back to the stronghold."
"That bastard was lucky!"
———
"Xiao Hei, where in the world have you carried me?"
Chen Jianghe had used four spirit stones to fully restore his spiritual power, but four hours had passed.
The bright moon hung in the sky, and the stars had faded.
At the bottom of an unknown river, Xiao Hei was still carrying Chen Jianghe forward at high speed.
It was a matter of life and death, so Xiao Hei didn't dare to slack off in the slightest.
As long as Chen Jianghe didn't say stop, he would keep moving forward with his physical strength, even if his spiritual power was completely drained.
"Two-legs, you're finally awake! I'm about to die from exhaustion."
Xiao Hei grumbled, but his short claws were still paddling energetically through the water.
"Xiao Hei, open your mouth."
Chen Jianghe took out four spirit stones and tossed them into Xiao Hei's mouth.
Spirit beasts could also consume spirit stones to recover their spiritual power.
According to the *Yun Clan Journal*, legend had it that spirit beasts with powerful bloodlines could directly consume spirit stones to increase their cultivation.
In the Tiannan Region, there was once a spirit beast that swallowed the source of a tier-two high-grade spirit vein in a single gulp.
The *Yun Clan Journal* didn't specify what tier the spirit beast was or what grade its bloodline was.
It might have just been a rumor. After all, what kind of creature could directly consume spirit stones to raise its cultivation, let alone swallow an entire tier-two high-grade spirit vein?
"Is the danger gone?"
The spirit stones crunched like candy in Xiao Hei's mouth.
"I don't know. You recover your spiritual power. I'll carry you."
As he spoke, Chen Jianghe got off Xiao Hei's back, swam to his plastron, and used his spiritual power to pull Xiao Hei along, swimming forward quickly.
Xiao Hei had exhausted his spiritual power but had continued to carry him forward. This genuinely moved Chen Jianghe a little.
"Haha! Two-legs, now I really feel like your master."
The feeling vanished completely.
He wanted to put Xiao Hei into the Spirit Beast Ring, but once inside the spirit beast space, although they could communicate telepathically, the beast's body would be in a dormant state.
It couldn't recover spiritual power.
So he could only continue to pull Xiao Hei along the riverbed.
Sensing that Xiao Hei's aura had stabilized and he had begun to recover his spiritual power, Chen Jianghe didn't disturb him further.
Instead, he would occasionally surface to look at the scenery outside.
To see if he could spot any signs of civilization.
Four hours of deep cultivation had left him completely lost.
Although he could tell the directions, he didn't know which way the Youxian River was. Without returning to the Youxian River, he would have a hard time reaching Qinghe Market City.
When the bandit cultivators attacked, he had been about a thousand miles from Qinghe Market City.
Afterwards, he fled west for several hundred miles.
He was probably six or seven hundred miles from Qinghe Market City now, but then Xiao Hei had carried him off in an unknown direction.
This made it difficult for him to judge how far he was from Qinghe Market City.
Even if he had been going west the whole time, that was west along the Youxian River.
"If I've reached the territory of Qinghe Market City, there should be small cultivator towns around. Even if I'm not near the market city itself, there should be signs of people."
Two hours later.
Chen Jianghe had switched between several tributaries, but his general direction was still west. He had probably traveled another hundred miles or so.
The danger should be gone by now.
But he was also completely lost.
Looking at his surroundings, with peaks hundreds of feet high on both sides, he realized he had entered a canyon river.
*Screech—*
Suddenly, the cry of an ape rang out, exceptionally clear in the night.
At that moment, Xiao Hei's eyes snapped open. He flipped over, putting Chen Jianghe on his back, and activated his 'Petrification' divine ability. His shell began to glow with a dim, golden-gray light.
"Xiao Hei, what's wrong?"
Seeing Xiao Hei wake up and put him on his back, Chen Jianghe smiled with relief.
"There's a spirit beast. A late-stage tier-one spirit beast."
Xiao Hei quickly sent a telepathic message to Chen Jianghe and then shot forward like an arrow.
He sped through the water.
"A late-stage tier-one demonic beast?"
Chen Jianghe's heart skipped a beat. There wouldn't be any spirit beasts in these desolate mountains; it had to be an untamed demonic beast.
Demonic beasts were far more ferocious than spirit beasts.
A late-stage tier-one demonic beast would be even more difficult to deal with than that mustached bandit cultivator.